Reflection on the Vatican Statement

The Holy See has released its statement on the apostolic visitation to the Legion of Christ. To read Vatican Radio’s English translation of the statement, please click here. I hope to provide a line-by-line commentary later today. For the time being, my thoughts are summarized in Deuteronomy 30:15-20:

“See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

4 thoughts on “Reflection on the Vatican Statement”

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The communique speaks of the Holy Father’s concern for the priests of the Legion and the members of Regnum Christi assuring them that they will not be abandoned during this process. How about concern for those who were abused by Maciel and were castigated for bringing this information to light in ’97? What repercussions will come as a result of the hush money given to Cadinals Sodano and Dziwisc? I can’t believe that I even have to ask these questions.

There is a message of concern for victims in the communique: that the Church will have to face “all those who, inside and outside the Legion, were victims of sexual abuse and of the power system devised by the founder.”
On the other point, the allegations of payments to Cardinals Sudano and Dziwisz are brand new: they appear in the NCR dated April 6, so there is no way that the apostolic visitators could have investigated it.
In evaluating the Pope’s actions here, please be aware that the imposition of an apostolic visitor to supervise the order is only the beginning of a process.

Thank you, Richard. I stand corrected. I missed those two sentences in point 5. I understand Pope Benedict XVI is the pope of Christian unity. After reading Berry’s book and recent articles, I didn’t see how anything other than total dissolution was an option. You can’t throw out the baby with the bath water as the expression goes. I just hope that Vaca and the others get the justice they rightfully deserve one way or the other.